188 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
to the reader because it can be applied as well to any treeless forma- 
tion. Prairie, on the other hand, is a term well-known to every school- 
boy the world over, and there is no need whatever to overload mem- 
ory with a new name that serves no useful purpose. For the term 
“bad lands” of Nebraska CLEMENTS suggests hydrotribium, and 
for plants on that formation hydrotribophyta. Terms such as these 
are very expressive in a way, but they are certainly not an improve- 
ment. The English “bad lands” applied to this particular forma- 
tion is widely known, it causes no ambiguity, and there would be no 
objection raised against its acceptance in French, German, or any 
language, but most people would certainly protest against hydro- 
tribium. And still this last term can be pronounced, but what about 
ptenothalophyta, rhoium, ammochthophilus, proodophytia, mesoch- 
thonophilus, chosen at random from CLEMENTS’ catalogue ? The 
terms rolling prairie, rolling foothill, rolling downs, and so on, can 
readily be adapted in any language, and be just as characteristic as 
if we translated them into some more or less high-sounding name 
derived from the Greek word for rolling, or wheel, or ball, or some 
similar expression. In geology many characteristic words have been 
borrowed from the vernacular for technical use, as fjord, atoll, and 
canyon. Would physiography have been better off in regard to clear- 
ness and brevity of expression if names of mixed Greek and Latin 
origin had been invented for these conceptions, which had no equiva- 
lent in the language of the ancients? ENGLER, in the footnote to 
CLEMENTS’ article already referred to, gives the following categorical 
judgment in this matter: .“‘dass es sicht nicht empfielt, die volkstiim- 
lichen Bezeichnungen von Pflanzenformationen aus der pflanzen- 
geographischen Literatur zu verbannen.” 
What has here been said may suffice to show that new names 
cannot be invented to advantage for features that already have well 
established and characteristic designations in the vernacular language 
of the country where they constitute a salient feature. Good common 
sense in this as in many other cases must be the guide in choosing 
technical expressions. 
If a suggestion were offered as to the first step necessary in order 
to obtain uniformity, it would be that we have to decide about the 
various kinds of floristic, topographic, and ecologic units that cam be 
a li i a a 
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